Course Description

CO301 A,B,C,D Intermediate Composition

Prerequisite: CO150 College Composition

CO301 focuses explicitly on reading and writing strategies for accommodating the rhetorical demands of specialized subjects to the needs of diverse audiences, particularly those audiences outside the students' disciplines. The course will be taught in four subsections that address topics and issues of interest in one of four, broad, disciplinary areas:
A. Arts and Humanities
B. Sciences
C. Social Sciences
D. Education

Although students may sometimes write to readers well educated in one of these fields, their work in CO301 is not designed to substitute for disciplinary writing in a field. Rather, CO301 assumes that students will write to more general audiences. The first six weeks of the course focus on analyses and responses to readings while the rest of the semester is devoted to preparing a portfolio of original pieces.

As an intermediate composition course, CO301 assumes complete control of skills developed in CO150 so that students can go well beyond introductory academic writing. Like the other intermediate composition courses offered through the English Department, the course emphasizes (1) writing processes with a special emphasis on revising and editing, and (2) critical reading processes with an emphasis on reading from a writer's point of view.

Unlike CO300, which focuses on one mode of written discourse--argument, CO301 focuses on multiple modes and genres of written discourse. Students taking the course will learn about and practice writing a wide range of essays, including those that explain, interpret, react to, or reflect on specific issues for general audiences. The focus on general audiences is another point of distinction between CO300 and CO301. Whereas CO300 focuses on audience concerns only from the perspective of argumentative discourse, CO301 addresses a broad range of issues concerning how writers adapt their texts to diverse audiences, including which genres are most appropriate for specific rhetorical purposes.

Unlike CO302, which focuses on adapting to the rhetorical demands of writing in online contexts, CO301 addresses issues related to writing online only indirectly, through use of a class Web site, use of electronic communication with the instructor and classmates, and regular posts to a class Web discussion forum. Although faculty and students in the course will make use of online communication tools, they will not be writing specifically for audiences who are reading their texts online.

CO301B Writing in the Sciences
This course emphasizes expository and argumentative writing about the sciences for lay audiences. Although you may sometimes write to readers with a science background, your work in CO301 will not include technical writing to readers expert in your scientific disciplines. You will practice appropriate forms and techniques for adapting writing about science to the needs of different non-expert audiences, including readers of Scientific American, Discover, Natural History, National Wildlife, National Geographic, Science News, Smithsonian, and Colorado Outdoors, among others. You will write analyses and explanations of scientific and technical topics; argumentative papers on current controversies in science, technology, or science education; and investigative and research essays. Throughout the course, you will practice adapting form and style to your audience.